Writing our truth

Copyright Marie Kléber

There’s this think about writing that makes you see things and people and places and situations from a different perspective. You spot something, a word, an action; you catch a color, a sign. You create from real something that lives only in your imagination and that will touch people who know nothing about you, but would catch a glimpse of what makes you happy, fearful, angry or grateful.

I believe writing is not about pleasing others, about saying what others want to hear. But about taking off all the layers we keep to protect ourselves. If we can’t do this, if we keep turning around without speaking our truth, we might want to choose another road; we might need to find another way to express ourselves.

Cause if we can’t let go, we won’t enjoy the ride, we will never get to this space where we can stand naked in front of the sun, without being burned.

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Writing and Chocolate ice cream

Sometimes writing feels like dipping your fingers in chocolate ice cream

It’s delicious till you can’t stand it

It’s sweet till you can’t eat it

It makes you happy till it makes you sick

It’s happening to me right now as I am in process of re-reading my manuscript. It’s not so much about the story, it’s more about finding the right word, organizing paragraphs, crossing off lines, writing differently. I love it tille I hate it.

So I stop, take a pause, find something else to do, till the passion is back and the paper is not a threat anymore.

And you, how do you see writing? Is it always easy or do you find yourself lost from time to time?

Never stop writing…

I used to write in English every day. I miss writing in English.

I love writing in French too. But it’s not the same. I miss the connection with something different, something that told me at some stage “you’re free”.

Maybe it has to do with not mastering all grammatical issues in this second language. In French it feels like I have to follow established rules and this triggers a bit the soul of what I want to say, of the stories I want to tell.

Anyway, this year I decided to write more, to write every day. Not for long, just 2, 5 or 10 minutes every day.

I already wrote 32 short stories, thoughts, poems, words…

I think I will keep doing it in French and I will start doing it in English here. I will let words, quotes, photos inspire me. I will let go and let God guide me on the road…

Till then, take care, love life, live fully every moment and smile!

What writing means to me…

Reading Anne Lamott makes you think. Of life and writing. Of mess, pain, darkness, craziness and…

On what writing means to you.

After finishing one of the chapters of “bird by bird”, I started thinking about what writing is for me.

It’s like breathing.

It’s like finding my voice.

It’s like looking inside, searching inside, catching a glimpse of what makes me sad, what is torturing me, what makes me want to shout out loud, what gives me goosebumps, what kills me and what makes me alive. All in once.

It’s like sharing, being part of the solution (whatever the question – doubt – worry is).

It’s like being authentic, letting go.

It’s like treasuring the silence.

It’s like talking over a warm coffee on a cold Saturday morning.

It feels like crying sometimes, losing battles or catching emptiness in the midst of chaotic days.

It’s like being human and celebrating life.

It’s like finding my balance, my truth.

It’s like acknowledging that I am a mess somedays and full of hope others.

It’s like peace at the end of a long ride.

It’s like touching my dark side.

It’s like healing, grieving, standing up and dancing at the sound of victory.

It’s a way to say Thank you. To the World. To God.

It’s like talking to God, talking to pain, talking to every single life I encounter.

I don’t always know what to say, how to say it. I am not always true to myself, to you. Somedays I’d rather like be somebody else, using others words and style. Till I set the alarm clock and take some rest, look around and decide that whatever happen in this world, I have this chance to be who I am and to be alive. As I stop, I take a deep breath. It’s time for me to open a note book and scribble down my thoughts on writing and what it takes to follow one’s dream.

What about you? What writing means for you?

Do you know Anne Lamott?

The urge to write – From darkness to light

You know this urge, the one that nothing seems able to stop, and the one that keeps you awake till the morning like – the urge to write and empty yourself on the paper in front of you.

I felt it, just after Paris Attacks last November. I could not breathe without my pen in my hand and my heart wide opened to let go of all the pain inside me. I could not go out without fear attached to every part of my body. I could not make sense of all this blood on the pavements, all this craziness.

So I did the only thing I could do to overcome the painful sadness, the ugly anger. I kept writing till there was nothing left to say, to understand, to empty, to say, to shout out loud. I kept writing and re-writing and changing things and creating images in my mind. Typing and coming to terms with my own weaknesses, my dark side. Writing and finding the Light again.

Six months later I have it in my hands – my second poetry book. All is there. All that I want to tell you. All that I want to share, for a better and brighter world. I won’t let darkness, shadows, violence or hatred kill my faith and my ideals, my freedom and my love for Life and People. I’ll always stand up for what I believe in and what I wish to create, with my words, my voice and my life.

All the profits will go to a French Charity organization, created by the mother of a military man killed in 2012 by a terrorist. She is working with kids and young adults, visiting schools and prisons, promoting interreligious dialogue, peaceful coexistence and fighting against radicalization.

I wonder whether I should try to get these poems translated in English. It’s quite delicate. As words come in one language or the other. I don’t choose. In the meantime, feel free to share the love, peace and light that you and the world deserve!